AI Resilience Report forOccupational Therapists

Good news first: AI is showing up in occupational therapy mostly as a helper, not a replacement. The biggest area where therapists are seeing AI right now is in paperwork — the documentation, evaluation notes, and progress reports that eat into time spent with clients. A trade publication for OTs lists at least seven "AI scribe" products built specifically for rehab therapy, with companies marketing tools that listen during sessions and draft notes automatically ^[1] so therapists don't have to type them after work.

A 2025 study in the journal Digital Health compared ChatGPT-generated OT notes to ones written by licensed therapists and found that AI-generated documentation received significantly higher ratings across quality and empathy dimensions, suggesting AI tools may help reduce documentation burdens ^[2] — though the same study cautioned that human notes were more consistent between reviewers. AOTA itself has published guidance walking practitioners through how generative AI can support nonbillable tasks like creating home programs, treatment ideas, and organized documentation ^[3]. For the actual hands-on therapy — laying out tools, coaching exercises, recommending home modifications — a 2026 umbrella review in Frontiers in Digital Health concluded that an "adjunct-first posture is warranted," meaning AI should support rather than replace clinicians ^[4], partly because lab performance often drops once tools reach real clinics.

Adoption is likely to be steady but cautious. On the "speed it up" side, demand for OTs is booming — the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of occupational therapists will grow 14 percent from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations ^[5] — so anything that reduces burnout from paperwork is attractive to employers. A 2026 industry overview reports that over 30% of U.S. occupational therapy facilities are projected to integrate AI to enhance clinical workflows ^[6].

On the "slow it down" side, OT care is deeply personal and physical — helping someone re-learn to button a shirt or cook safely requires empathy, judgment, and touch that AI cannot replicate. AOTA released a 2025 ethics policy specifically on the ethical use of artificial intelligence ^[3], signaling that the profession wants strong guardrails around privacy, bias, and clinical accountability. If you're considering this career, the takeaway is hopeful: AI is most likely to give future OTs more time with patients, not fewer jobs — your human skills are exactly what the technology can't copy.